1. Field
The following description generally relates to a backhaul network technology using a Time Division Multiplexing-Passive Optical Network (TDM-PON), and more particularly to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) for low latency packet transmission in the TDM-PON, a method of operating the same, and an apparatus for controlling the ONU.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile communications traffic increases rapidly every year, throughput of base stations also increases, and the number of required base stations also increases with miniaturization of cells. Wireless backhaul technology has been recently introduced, but a large amount of traffic is currently transmitted through optical fiber cables.
There has been an attempt to apply the passive optical network (PON) technology, which is highly price-competitive, to a backhaul network based on optical fiber cable. The PON technology may include Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), in which the TDM is highly price-competitive, but when applied to a backhaul network, the TDM may result in long latency in uplink packet transmission between base stations and a wireless toll center; and the WDM, which employs 1:1 connection, has short latency and may guarantee a fixed bandwidth but is expensive.
The next-generation mobile communication service requires a network that enables low latency for services of sensory effects and the like. The TDM-PON, which may be applied to a backbone network, has long latency, such that it is required to reduce latency to use the TDM-PON for the next-generation mobile communication service.